Method of manufacturing velvet plush and article thereof

ABSTRACT

A method of manufacturing a velvet plush article includes the steps of: weaving a greige cloth by interweaving face yarns and backing yarns, wherein the face yarns are selected from single-ply bright trilobal yarns and two-ply yarns and the backing yarns are selected from FDY or DTY yarn: pre-processing the greige cloth by brushing, first setting, singeing and second setting the greige cloth sequentially; dyeing and/or printing the greige cloth; and finishing the greige cloth by softening, drying, brushing, sentering, heat-setting, singeing, shearing and final heat-setting the greige cloth. Accordingly, a velvet plush article having a superior smoothness and softness for providing a superior touch and feel comfort is achieved. The velvet plush article may be a velvet plush throw or blanket, or a velvet plush cloth for further processing.

BACKGROUND OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

1. Field of Invention

The present invention relates to velvet plush, and more particularly toa method of manufacturing velvet plush throw which utilizes syntheticfiber using synthetic fibers to produce a particularly soft and smoothvelvet plush throw article.

2. Description of Related Arts

Velvet plush has a generally soft and smooth texture and is a verypopular material used in textiles. Velvet plush throws, blankets, andsimilar plush textiles are in popular use because they are very smoothand soft. However, the cost to manufacture a velvet plush throw, blanketor the like is very high. Conversely, efforts to manufacture velvetplush throws and blankets at more reasonable cost have resulted in lowerquality articles. Materials such as silk, cashmere, mohair, linen andcotton are traditionally used for manufacturing velvet plush. Velvetplush articles produced from silk are especially soft and smooth. Silk,however, is a very expense raw material and is, therefore, lessdesirable when seeking to contain manufacturing costs. On the otherhand, synthetic materials such as polyester and nylon are morereasonable in price, but the quality of a velvet plush cloth made withpolyester or nylon is relatively low.

The conventional method for manufacturing a tufted surface involvedneedling and adding the tufted pile onto a backing, but this techniquedoes not produce a smooth and soft tufted surface of high quality havingan evenly distributed pile layer.

There is, thus, no practical cost-effective method in the prior art forthe manufacture of a high quality velvet plush throw article.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

A method of manufacturing a velvet plush article according to thepresent invention comprises the steps of: brushing a greige clothcomprising synthetic materials, and singeing the brushed greige cloth bypassing it across a plurality of hot singe rollers. Brushing andsingeing the greige cloth forms a pre-processed greige cloth includingsynthetic materials that is then suitable for finishing to form a velvetplush article.

In one embodiment of the invention a method of manufacturing a velvetplush article from a greige cloth comprising synthetic materialscomprises the steps of:

-   -   (A) weaving a greige cloth by interweaving face yarns and        backing yarns, wherein the face yarns are selected from a group        consisting of single-ply bright trilobal yarns having linear        mass densities of 75D/144F, 90D/144F, 100D/144F or 150D/288F and        two-ply yarns having linear mass densities of 120D/288F or        300D/574F, wherein the backing yarns are selected from fully        drawn yarns having weights of approximately 68D-100D or draw        textured yarns having weights of approximately 100D-150D;    -   (B) pre-processing the greige cloth by brushing, first setting,        singeing and second setting the greige cloth sequentially;    -   (C) dyeing the preprocessed greige cloth to form a colored        greige cloth; and    -   (E) finishing by softening, drying, brushing, stentering,        heat-setting, singeing, shearing and final heat-setting the        colored greige cloth.

Alternately, after step (B) or (C), the method of manufacturing a velvetplush article further comprises the steps of:

-   -   (D) printing the pre-processed greige cloth obtained from        step (B) or printing the colored greige cloth obtained from        step (C) to form a printed and colored greige cloth; and    -   (E) finishing by softening, drying, brushing, stentering,        heat-setting, singeing, shearing and final heat-setting the        colored or printed greige cloth sequentially.

First and a second filamentsFace yarns and backing yarns are provided instep (A) in a ratio of 4:1, respectively.

The brushing in step (B) involves brushing in a frontward direction andin a backward direction; the first setting involves heat-setting at120-130° C. at a rolling speed of 25 m/min; the singeing involves asequential rolling for six times at a frontward, backward, backward,frontward, backward and backward directions passing the greige clothsequentially in frontward, backward, backward, frontward, backward andbackward directions across heated cylinders; the second setting involvesheat-setting at 170-180° C. at a rolling speed of 25 m/min.

In step (C), dyeing the greige cloth includes bathing in dye dyeingfluid and rinsing in water. In one embodiment of the invention, thegreige cloth is dyed for an additional twenty minutes and rinsed inwater having a neutral or nearly neutral pH in order to produce a smoothand bright surface.

In step (D), printing includes the steps of brushing in a frontwarddirection, setting at 150° C. at a rolling speed of 25 m/min, andprinting a preset pattern.

In step (E), softening includes washing to add acidity until the greigecloth is soft and then neutralizing the greige cloth until a pH of thegreige cloth is neutral. If the pH is lower than 7, the fiber density ofthe greige cloth will diminish. If the pH is higher than 7, the greigecloth will be overly hardened; drying includes drying under 190° C. at arolling speed of 20 m/min with an upper drying channel operated at 300rpm and a lower drying channel operated at 1200 rpm; brushing includestwo brushing cycles; stentering includes stentering at a frontwarddirection and a backward direction; heat-setting includes heat-settingunder 150° C. at a rolling speed of 25 m/min with soft air; singeingincludes singe rolling passing the greige cloth across hot rollers infrontward and backward directions, and preferably in one embodimentincludes singe rolling passing the greige cloth across hot rollers R inbackward, backward, frontward, frontward, backward, frontward, backwardand frontward directions sequentially; shearing includes shearing at afrontward, backward, backward, frontward, frontward, frontward, backwardand backward directions sequentially such that the final orientation ofthe pile hair is the same when approaching the cloth in both frontwardand backward directions; and final heat-setting includes heat-setting at190° C. at a rolling speed of 30 m/min.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the presentinvention comprises a velvet plush article, comprising:

-   -   a flat body having a middle layer defining a top surface and a        bottom surface, and at least one pile layer extended from the        middle layer on one of the top surface and the bottom surface,    -   wherein the velvet plush article is made in of synthetic        materials such as polyester and the pile layer provides a highly        smooth and soft touch and feel.

In one embodiment, a color and/or a pattern is provided to the flat bodyof the velvet plush article. The velvet plush article manufacturedaccording to the method can also be a velvet plush blanket or simply avelvet plush sheet which can be further processed.

The method described above advantageously uses synthetic materials toproduct a high quality velvet plush article having superior smoothnessand a soft hand, employs an automated process which lowers costs andimproves quality, and flexibly allows the article to optionally be dyedand printed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an upper perspective view of a velvet plush article accordingto the invention.

FIG. 2 is an end view thereof.

FIG. 3 is a high-level flowchart of a method of manufacturing velvet avelvet plush article according to the invention.

FIGS. 3A-3E are flowcharts showing the processes of brushing, dyeing,softening, stentering and shearing in alternate embodiments of theinvention.

FIG. 4 is a representative schematic showing singeing during thepre-processing step.

FIG. 5 is a representative schematic showing singeing during thefinishing step.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIGS. 1-3 of the drawings, a method of manufacturing velvetplush article and a final velvet plush article are described below. TheWith particular reference to FIG. 3, a method of manufacturing a velvetplush article comprises the steps of:

-   -   (A) weaving a greige cloth, at A;    -   (B) pre-processing the greige cloth from step (A), at B;    -   (C) dyeing the greige cloth after step (B), at C;    -   (D) printing the greige cloth after step (B) or (C), at C; and    -   (E) finishing the greige cloth to form a final velvet plush        article, at E.

The dyeing and printing steps are optional and may be performed asdesired in order to provide the velvet plush article with a particularcolor and pattern.

As shown in FIG. 2 , the velvet plush article 10 has a flat body 12having a middle layer 16 defining a top surface 18 and a bottom surface20, and at least one a pile layer 22 comprising a plurality of pilehairs 24 extending from the middle layer 16 on the top surface 18, thebottom surface 20, or both. The velvet plush article in the illustratedembodiment 10 has two pile layers 22 on each of the top surface 18 andthe bottom surface 20 respectively and the pile hair 24 isuni-directional in which a direction of the pile hair 24 at a frontwarddirection is the same as a direction of the pile hair at a backwarddirection in that the direction of the pile hair 24 from a frontwarddirection is the same as the direction of the pile hair from a backwarddirection. The According to the invention, the velvet plush article 10is made of comprises synthetic materials such as polyester and the twopile layers 22 on the top surface 18 and the bottom surface 20 provide ahighly smooth and soft touch and feel to a user. In addition, a color 14and/or a pattern 16 can be provided on one or both of the two pilelayers 22 on the top surface 18 and/or the bottom surface 20 as seen inFIG. 1 . The velvet plush article 10 can also be manufactured as avelvet plush blanket or a velvet plush sheet for further processing.

As shown inWith reference again to FIG. 3 , the method of manufacturinga velvet plush article comprises the steps of:

-   -   (A) weaving a greige cloth by interweaving face yarns and        backing yarns, wherein the face yarns are selected from a group        consisting of single-ply bright trilobal yarns having linear        mass densities of 75D/144F, 90D/144F, 100D/144F or 150D/288F and        two-ply yarns having linear mass densities of 120D/288F or        300D/574F, wherein the backing yarns are selected from fully        drawn yarns having weights of approximately 68D-100D or draw        textured yarns having weights of approximately 100D-150D;    -   (B) pre-processing the greige cloth-obtained from step (A) by        brushing, first setting, singeing and second setting the greige        cloth sequentially;    -   (C) dyeing the preprocessed greige cloth to form a colored        greige cloth; and    -   (E) finishing by sequentially softening, drying, brushing,        stentering, heat-setting, singeing, shearing and final        heat-setting the colored greige cloth.

Alternately, after the step (B) or (C), the method of manufacturing avelvet plush article further comprises the steps of:

-   -   (D) printing the pre-processed greige cloth obtained from        step (B) or printing the pre-processed and colored greige cloth        obtained from step (C) to form a printed greige cloth; and    -   (E) finishing by softening, drying, brushing, stentering,        heat-setting, singeing, shearing and final heat-setting the        colored or printed greige cloth sequentially.

PreferablyIn one embodiment of the invention, in step (A), first andsecond filamentsthe face yarns and backing yarns are provided in a ratioof 4:1, wherein the first filament is a backing filament.

In step (B), in one embodiment of the invention the brushing involvesbrushing in a frontward direction and in a backward direction as shownin FIG. 3A; the first setting involves heat-setting at 120-130° C. at arolling speed of 25 m/min; as shown in FIG. 4, the singeing involves asequential rolling for six times at a frontward, backward, backward,frontward, backward and backward directions singe rolling performed bypassing the greige cloth F in frontward, backward, backward, frontward,backward and backward directions sequentially across hot rollers R; andthe second setting involves heat-setting at 170-180° C. at a rollingspeed of 25 m/min.

In step (C), dyeing the greige cloth includes bathing in dye fluid andrinsing with water as shown in FIG. 3B. In one embodiment additionaldyeing time of 20 minutes is required due to immersion of the greigecloth in a water bath having a neutral pH or the lowest acidity thatwill result in a smooth and bright surface.

in step (D), printing includes the steps of brushing in a frontwarddirection, setting at 150° C. at a rolling speed of 25 m/min, andprinting a preset pattern.

In step (E), softening includes washing to add acidity until the greigecloth is soft and then neutralizing the pH of the greige cloth as shownin FIG. 3C. If the pH is lower than 7, the fiber density of the greigecloth will diminish. If the pH is greater than 7, the greige cloth willbe hardened; drying includes drying under 190° C. at a rolling speed of20 m/min with an upper drying channel operated at 300 rpm and a lowerdrying channel operated at 1200 rpm; brushing includes brushing twobrushing cycles; stentering includes stentering in a frontward directionand a backward direction as shown in FIG. 3D; heat-setting includesheat-setting under 150° C. at a rolling speed of 25 m/min with soft air;singeing includes passing the greige cloth across a plurality of hotsinge rollers in frontward and backward directions, and preferably, asshown in FIG. 5, includes passing the greige cloth F across hot singerollers R in backward, backward, frontward, frontward, backward,frontward, backward and frontward directions sequentially; shearingincludes shearing in frontward, backward, backward, frontward,frontward, frontward, backward and backward directions sequentially, asshown in FIG. 3E, such that the final orientation of the pile hair isthe same when approaching the cloth in both frontward and backwarddirections; and final heat-setting includes heat-setting at 190° C. at arolling speed of 30 m/min.

There have thus been described and illustrated certain embodiments of amethod of manufacturing velvet plush according to the invention.Although the present invention has been described and illustrated indetail, it should be clearly understood that the disclosure isillustrated only and is not to be taken as limiting, the spirit andscope of the invention being limited only by the terms of the appendedclaims and their legal equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of manufacturing a velvet plush article,comprising the steps of: weaving a greige cloth by interweaving faceyarns and backing yarns, said face yarns comprising single-ply trilobalyarns or two-ply yarns and said backing yarns comprising fully drawnyarns or draw-textured yarns; pre-processing by sequentially brushing,first setting, singeing and second setting said greige cloth; dyeing thepre-processed greige cloth to form a colored cloth; and finishing bysequentially softening, drying, brushing, stentering, firstheat-setting, singeing, shearing and final heat-setting said coloredgreige cloth to form a finished velvet plush article having a flat bodyincluding a middle layer and two pile layers, each said pile layerhaving pile hair that is uni-directional, smooth and soft.
 2. The methodof claim 1 further comprising the steps of: printing a pattern on saidcolored cloth, and performing said finishing step on the printed coloredcloth.
 3. The method of claim 1 wherein said single-ply trilobal yarnsare selected from the group of yarns having linear mass densities of75D/144F, 90D/144F, 100D/144F and 150D/288F, the two-ply yarns areselected from the group of yarns having linear mass densities of120D/288F or 300D/574F, and the backing yarns are yarns selected fromfully drawn yarns having a weight of approximately 68D-100D or drawtextured yarns having a weight of approximately, 100D-150D.
 4. Themethod of claim 2 wherein said single-ply trilobal yarns are selectedfrom the group of yarns having linear mass densities of 75D/144F,90D/144F, 120D/288F and 300D/574F 100D/144F and 150D/288F, and thebacking yarns are yarns selected from fully drawn yarns having a weightof approximately 68D-100D or draw textured yarns having a weight ofapproximately 100D-150D.
 5. The method of claim 3 wherein said faceyarns and said backing yarns have a ratio of 4:1 by weight.
 6. Themethod of claim 4 wherein said face yarns and said backing yarns have aratio of 4:1 by weight.
 7. The method of claim 5 wherein: said brushingduring pre-processing includes brushing in a frontward direction andbrushing in a backward direction opposite of said frontward direction;said first setting process includes heat-setting between approximately120-130° C. at a rolling speed of 25 m/min; said singeing process duringpre-processing includes passing said greige cloth across hot singerollers in frontward, backward, backward, frontward, backward andbackward directions, sequentially; and said second setting processincludes heat-setting between approximately 170-180° C. at a rollingspeed of 25 m/min.
 8. The method of claim 6 wherein: said brushingduring pre-processing includes brushing in a frontward direction andbrushing in a backward direction opposite of said frontward direction;said first setting process includes heat-setting between approximately120-130° C. at a rolling speed of 25 m/min; said singeing process duringpre-processing includes passing said greige cloth across hot singerollers in frontward, backward, backward, frontward, backward andbackward directions, sequentially; and said second setting processincludes heat-setting between approximately 170-180° C. at a rollingspeed of 25 m/min.
 9. The method of claim 7 wherein said dyeingcomprises the substeps of: bathing in dye fluid, and rinsing with waterhaving a neutral pH or a low acidity that will result in the dyed greigecloth having a smooth and bright surface.
 10. The method of claim 8wherein said dyeing comprises the substeps of: bathing in dye fluid, andrinsing with water having a neutral pH or a low acidity that will resultin the dyed greige cloth having a smooth and bright surface.
 11. Themethod of claim 10 wherein the softening process includes: washing toadd acidity until the greige cloth is soft, and neutralizing the pH ofthe acidified greige cloth; the drying process includes drying atapproximately 190° C. at a rolling speed of 20 m/min with an upperdrying channel operated at 300 rpm and a lower drying channel operatedat 1200 rpm; the brushing process during finishing includes two brushingcycles; the stentering process includes stentering in a frontwarddirection and in a backward direction, sequentially; the firstheat-setting process includes heat-setting at approximately under 150°C. at a rolling speed of 25 m/min; the singeing process during finishingincludes passing said greige cloth across hot singeing rollers inbackward, backward, frontward, frontward, backward, frontward, backwardand frontward directions, sequentially; the shearing process includesshearing in frontward, backward, backward, frontward, frontward,frontward, backward and backward directions, sequentially, such that thefinal orientation of the pile hair is the same when approaching thecloth from both frontward and backward directions; and the finalheat-setting process includes heat-setting at approximately 190° C. at arolling speed of 30 m/min.
 12. The method of claim 9 wherein thesoftening process includes: washing to add acidity until the greigecloth is soft, and neutralizing the pH of the acidified greige cloth;the drying process includes drying at approximately 190° C. at a rollingspeed of 20 m/min with an upper drying channel operated at 300 rpm and alower drying channel operated at 1200 rpm; the brushing process duringfinishing includes two brushing cycles; the stentering process includesstentering in a frontward direction and in a backward direction,sequentially; the heat-setting process includes heat-setting atapproximately under 150° C. at a rolling speed of 25 m/min; the singeingprocess during finishing includes passing said greige cloth across hotsingeing rollers in backward, backward, frontward, frontward, backward,frontward, backward and frontward directions, sequentially; the shearingprocess includes shearing in frontward, backward, backward, frontward,frontward, frontward, backward and backward directions, sequentially,such that the final orientation of the pile hair is the same whenapproaching the cloth in both frontward and backward directions; and thefinal heat-setting process includes heat-setting at approximately 190°C. at a rolling speed of 30 m/min.
 13. A method of manufacturing avelvet plush article, comprising the steps of: weaving a greige cloth byinterweaving face yarns and backing yarns, said face yarns comprisingsingle-ply trilobal yarns or two-ply yarns and said backing yarnscomprising fully drawn yarns or draw-textured yarns; pre-processing bysequentially brushing, first setting, singeing and second setting saidgreige cloth; dyeing the pre-processed greige cloth to form a coloredcloth; and finishing by sequentially softening, drying, brushing, firstheat-setting, singeing, shearing and final heat-setting said coloredgreige cloth to form a finished velvet plush article having pile hairthat is uni-directional, smooth and soft.
 14. The method of claim 13further comprising the process of stentering between said brushing andsaid heat-setting processes in said finishing step, said velvet plusharticle having a flat body including a middle layer and two pile layers,each pile layer having pile hair that is uni-directional, smooth andsoft.
 15. The method of claim 13 further comprising the step of printingon said colored cloth.
 16. The method of claim 13 wherein saidsingle-ply trilobal yarns are selected from the group of yarns havinglinear mass densities of 75D/144F, 90D/144F, 120D/288F and 300D/574F100D/144F and 150D/288F, and said backing yarns are yarns selected fromfully drawn yarns having a weight of approximately 68D-100D or drawtextured yarns having a weight of approximately 100D-150D.
 17. Themethod of claim 13 wherein said face yarns and said backing yarns have aratio of 4:1 by weight.
 18. The method of claim 13 wherein said brushingprocess during pre-processing includes brushing in a frontward directionand brushing in a backward direction; said first setting processincludes heat-setting between approximately 120-130° C. at a rollingspeed of 25 m/min; said singeing process during pre-processing includespassing the greige cloth across hot singe rollers in frontward,backward, backward, frontward, backward and backward directions,sequentially; and said second setting process includes heat-settingbetween approximately 170-180° C. at a rolling speed of 25 m/min. 19.The method of claim 13 wherein said dyeing step comprises the substepsof: bathing said pre-processed greige cloth in a dye solution fluid, andneutralizing the pH or lowering the acidity of said greige cloth to givethe dyed greige cloth a smooth and bright surface.
 20. The method ofclaim 13 wherein the softening process includes: washing to add acidityuntil the greige cloth is soft, and neutralizing the pH of the acidifiedgreige cloth; the drying process includes drying at approximately 190°C. at a rolling speed of 20 m/min with an upper drying channel operatedat 300 rpm and a lower drying channel operated at 1200 rpm; the firstheat-setting process includes heat-setting at approximately under 150°C. at a rolling speed of 25 m/min; the singeing process during finishingincludes passing said greige cloth across hot singeing rollers inbackward, backward, frontward, frontward, backward, frontward, backwardand frontward directions, sequentially; the shearing process includesshearing in frontward, backward, backward, frontward, frontward,frontward, backward and backward directions, sequentially, such that thefinal orientation of the pile hair is the same when approaching thecloth in both frontward and backward directions; and the finalheat-setting process includes heat-setting at approximately 190° C. at arolling speed of 30 m/min.